Promoting & Enhancing The Natural Beauty of the Sid Valley
Most people know that Swallows, Swifts and House Martins are summer visitors that fly back to Africa to escape our winter. They have to because we do not have enough of their food insects flying in the winter. Flying south to escape our winterRead More
Leave a comment In a world that’s constantly evolving, preserving and nurturing local biodiversity has become more important than ever. Biodiversity, the variety of life forms within an ecosystem, is not just a source of beauty, but also a key pillar for the health and sustainability ofRead More
Leave a comment Butterflies are among the most loved members of our wildlife, brightening summer days as they flutter and float around like delicate jewels. There is a butterfly for every colour of the spectrum plus white and brown so dark it might be called black. EveryRead More
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I have never seen a Greater Celandine flowering in the countryside but I have often seen it in town. The photo here was taken down an alley in Honiton. A member of the poppy family with the typical four petalled flower and hairy stems,Read More
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The results of the 2023 RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch have the House Sparrow at number one, the commonest bird in UK gardens for the 20th consecutive year. The results for Sidmouth gardens compiled for the Sid Valley Biodiversity Group by Charles Sinclair placed itRead More
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Press Release – 13 June 2023 The first Sidmouth Biodiversity Festival took place at the beginning of June. Participants enjoyed a varied week of events, in the sunshine, including guided wildlife walks, opportunities to learn about the river Sid, and expert speakers at KennawayRead More
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A Celebration of Sidmouth Cemetery Sidmouth cemetery is a photographer’s dream and a pollinator’s haven. East Devon District Council’s Streetscene team should be applauded for managing this wonderful local asset so much better over the last two or three years. Now in summer, whereverRead More
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Food forests, or forest gardens, are often thought to be new to the UK. Popular wisdom is that they were pioneered by Robert Hart in Shropshire in the 1980s and further developed by Martin Crawford here in Devon at Dartington. But whilst these pioneersRead More
Leave a comment Wildflower meadows have been with us for millennia; in the wake of the last ice age, keystone species across the world such as wild horse, ox, bison, elk, wild boar and the aurochs (early species of cattle), developed a symbiotic relationship with theRead More
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Bluebells are beginning to push their spear-like leaves up through the cold earth and the covering of woodland leaves; spring is dawning. I am at Plyford Farm, situated high in the Sid valley, run by Kath and Nick Gray for 30 years. Spring isRead More
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